Trip to the State Fair

Yesterday we took Tyler to the Oklahoma State Fair. Before we left the car, I gave him some State Fair tips that guarantee a fun and safe fair experience.

1. Don't talk to Carnies (the creepy Carnival/Fair workers)
2. Eat your weight in fried food (where else can you find fried snickers and fried Twinkies?)
3. Everything is better on a stick (that's Mike's rule...he even had pizza on a stick while we were there)
4. Don't step in any liquid substance (probably isn't water - especially in the evenings or near the animal barns)
5. Buy at least one thing from the demonstration booths (see below for our purchase)

After our little "talk," we got Tyler in his stroller and headed into the fair. Tyler decided to spit up when we were walking away from the car to help us flex our parenting muscles. Wasn't it thoughtful of him to do it then instead of waiting until we were in the fair? Anyway, we had one too-small outfit in his bag that we changed him into...and off we went.

He did great the whole time we were there. It was a beautiful day...not too crowded...not too hot...not too cool. Lots of people peeked in on Tyler just to get a glimpse at his preciousness. We didn't get to eat as much food as Mike wanted before it was time to leave, but I think we had enough. In addition to the pizza on a stick, we had corn dogs and fudge. Mike is still upset, however, that he didn't get his corn-on-the-cob before we had to go. Boo hoo.

OH - we also were suckered into buying the German-engineered Sham-WOW product. I think at least 3 out of every 5 people we saw at the fair had also been sucked in by the Sham-WOW sales pitch. (My favorite sales line - "The Sham-WOW is like a woman...it gets better with age.") Actually, we were sold before we ever got to the fair because my infomercial-loving-sister already bought one off of the TV...AND even packed it in her suitcase for her trip to Australia.

One reason that I love going to the fair is that it reminds me of my grandparents. When we were kids, my grandpa had some special privileges that allowed us to park inside the fair. OH YEAH - VIP treatment at the fair is pretty special to a kid. One year (when I was in the fifth grade), my grandparents bought me dozens of the jelly bracelets that were all of the rage at Red Oak Elementary. I was BIG TIME when I got back to school wearing around 50 bracelets at a time. Hopefully we can give Tyler some great fair memories of his own, although I have a feeling that he may not remember this time.